The excited state lifetimes of uracil, thymine and 5-fluorouracil have been measured using femtosecond UV fluorescence upconversion in various protic and aprotic polar solvents. The fastest decays are observed in acetonitrile and the slowest in aqueous solution while those observed in alcohols are intermediate. No direct correlation with macroscopic solvent parameters such as polarity or viscosity is found, but hydrogen bonding is one key factor affecting the fluorescence decay. It is proposed that the solvent modulates the relative energy of two close-lying electronically excited states, the bright pi pi* and the dark pi pi* states. This relative energy gap controls the non-radiative relaxation of the pi pi* state through a conical intersection close to the Franck-Condon region competing with the ultrafast internal conversion to the ground state. In addition, an inverse isotope effect is observed in D2O where the decays are faster than in H2O. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Salerno, 84081 Baronissi, Salerno, Italy